Xmas already, this year has gone so fast! We have thought a little about it. As we might be moving back to oz next year we dont want to be shipping alot of things back, so really im stuck as to what to get Ben. Still thinking. I dont want to give him just clothes, that's boring :-)

Nadine - I completely understand about the sentimental value of your doll. Ben loves to play with a toy dog of mine. It isnt that old (6 years) but i bought it the first time i arrived in Germany and It has been all over the world with me... I also have a toy Hippo that Dh gave me when i left Germany the first time... and ben loves to play with that too. No matter where i hide it, he always seems to find it.

I am so excited about Winter coming up! The weather is getting cold and frosty, i LOVE it! I just hope this winter has much more snow than last year. It makes me sad when i think that this might be my last Winter in Germany. This will be my 6th Winter here.

We went to playgroup yesterday. One girl can name all the other children! there are about 10 or 12. I think that's amazing! All the kids are the same age, give or take 2 months. Ben isnt anywhere near some of the other children with his speech. But he communicates well - nods for yes, shakes his head and says "Nononononono" for no. Thats very helpful. So I'm sure it's just the 2 languages confusing him. Plus, Im a pretty quiet person... and i noticed some of the other mums dont stop talking.

Wilson - I wish we had a backyard of our own. Our Backyard is shared with the people who own the house we live in (they live in the second and third storey). they have 2 girls 5 and 8, who are too much sometimes... I would really love a backyard that was just for us.
Ben loves books like H. It's funny because he can just sit for a long time and look at the same page. When you go to help him and turn the page he says "Nononononono" and turns back to the previous page he was staring at for the past 30 mins. I also sometimes find Ben "reading" the Tv pages, or even one of my novels. haha.